Supreme Court of Lungary
The Supreme Court of Lungary (Lungarian: Zupremischestag Lüngard, abbreviated ZeL) is the supreme constitutional court for Lungary. The court is established in the constitution of Lungary, and by demand of the constitution, is located in the city of Vecker, Southeast Veckerland to separate it from the partisan politics of the capital city of Munbach. The Supreme Court is tasked with judicial review, and may declare legislation unconstitutional, rendering it void. As the most supreme court in the nation, the Supreme Court can override decisions made by state supreme courts. A decision made by the Supreme Court can only be overridden through the passing of a constitutional amendment, or by a second Supreme Court decision altering the previous decision. This makes the body one of the most powerful in the Lungarian lawmaking process. The Supreme Court consists of fifteen justices, which are appointed through the independent agency the Judicial Regulatory Commission (JRC). Justices may serve for 25 years, or until turning 70 years old, whichever comes first. Justices must be non-partisan, unregistered with any political party, and must swear away their rights to vote in elections. Failure to do any of these actions may result in impeachment by the JRC. The Supreme Court is led by the Chief Justice; the Chief Justice does not hold any more power than other justices, but typically is tasked with leading hearings and swearing in the Prime Minister of Lungary. Scope With the separation of powers mandated by the federal constitution, the Supreme Court exists to check the executive and legislative branches of government. As a result, the court can rule acts of any branches unconstitutional, whether as formal violations or as material conflicts. There are several procedures for how a case may be brought before the Supreme Court: *'Citizen request': Any citizen is able to submit a citizen request to the Supreme Court for a hearing, alleging that their constitutional rights have been violated. While this system often sees little success, with less than 5% of citizen requests being accepted, most landmark cases have been brought to the Supreme Court by citizen request. *'Political request': If a political institution, including the state governments for the states of Lungary, believe that a piece of legislation may be unconstitutional, they may bring it forward to the Supreme Court for review. *'Judicial request': Any lower court may submit a case to the Supreme Court, should they decide the case involves the alleged unconstitutionality of a law. *'Federal dispute': Federal institutions, including members of the Stadtkart, may bring disputes to the Supreme Court regarding competencies or procedures. *'State dispute': The states of Lungary may bring disputes to the Supreme Court regarding inter-state disputes or disputes between a state and the federal government regarding competencies or procedures. *'Election scrutiny': The Supreme Court has the power to investigate potential violations of election laws, which can be brought to them by political institutions or involved voters. *'Impeachment procedure': Should any federal political officeholder, such as a member of the Stadtkart, have impeachment investigations brought upon them, the Supreme Court is the body that will ultimately decide whether to remove the individual from office or pursue criminal charges. Should a state political officeholder survive an impeachment investigation (state impeachment investigations are handled by state supreme courts), the Supreme Court has the power to reopen the investigation on a federal level. *'Political party prohibition': Should the policies of a political party undermine the constitution, the Supreme Court has the power to ban the party from operating within Lungary. They can also prohibit specific individuals from seeking political office due to involvement with a banned party. This has never happened in Lungarian history, and there has never been an attempt to ban a political party. Organization The Supreme Court is made up of fifteen judges and headed by a Chief Justice. The Chief Justice's powers are largely ceremonial; they formally introduce cases to the rest of the court, traditionally ask the first question during hearings, and are tasked with swearing in new Prime Ministers. There is no special process of nominating a chief justice; the Chief Justice is appointed like every other justice, and will always replace the outgoing Chief Justice. Their term length does not differ from the other justices. As there are no lower federal courts, the Supreme Court typically receives numerous requests for hearings. Each justice is given five law clerks, who sort through requests and decide which to bring forth to the justices. If at least eight justices accept a request, it moves to the Supreme Court. Typically, around 5% of requests per year are accepted. Not all justices must be present at hearings; as long as the eight justices who accepted a request are present, the hearing will move forward. If there is an even number of justices presiding and a split decision, a second hearing will be scheduled with all 15 justices in mandatory attendance. The Chief Justice must be present for all hearings. Supreme Court rulings are decided by a simple majority vote. Dissenting opinions are allowed and are always published, as are all justices' personal rulings. Function The purpose of the Supreme Court is the preserve and protect the rights and liberties that are delegated in the constitution. The court vets and oversees legislation that is passed by the Stadtkart, to ensure that the legislation is cooperative with the constitution of the country. The court is also responsible for applying the federal constitution to the seventeen states of Lungary; each state has its own constitution, but if a piece of state legislation violates the federal constitution, the Supreme Court is tasked with declaring it unconstitutional, regardless of whether the legislation is compatible with the state constitution. Appointment of judges From the court's inception in 1909 until 1970, justices were appointed by a majority vote in the Stadtkart. Following concerns with the possibility of a politicization of the judiciary with partisan politicians appointing judges, a constitutional amendment was passed establishing the Judicial Regulatory Commission (JRC). The JRC is a non-partisan independent agency of the Lungarian government, tasked with appointing justices to the Supreme Court and overseeing their activities. When a seat in the Supreme Court is vacated, the JRC begins a process of accepting applications from judges in the state supreme courts, and hold interviews with the applicants. In the interviews, the JRC is looking for the most non-partisan candidate who is determined to defend the constitution regardless of personal bias or outside influence. After completing the interview process, they propose one of the applicants as a judicial candidate, and the appointment is either approved or rejected by a majority vote of the state JRC agencies. The JRC consists of a board, with all board members holding an equal amount of power. Each political party represented in the Stadtkart may appoint one non-officeholder to the JRC board, with the nominee having to be approved by a majority of the party's members of parliament. State JRCs have the same requirements, except using their state parliaments instead of the Stadtkart. Current members Category:Courts of Lungary Category:National supreme courts Category:Lungarian constitutional law